Ex-Australia Post employee and friend plead guilty in Australian of the Year insider information betting scandal

The men faced a Melbourne court after being charged following a three-year investigation by federal police into gambling on the annual awards

Two high school friends used insider information to bet on the winner of three Australian of the Year awards, and pocket thousands of dollars, a court has heard.

James Dawkins, 39, and 38-year-old Dean Young fronted Dandenong magistrates court in Melbourne on Thursday after details of their plan came to light.

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Australia Post apologises after workers underpaid by $5.6m over 10 years due to ‘payroll errors’

Postal service says 3,600 current and former employees will receive any owed pay with interest and super where applicable

Australia Post has apologised after admitting to “payroll errors” that saw 3,600 employees underpaid by $5.6m over a decade.

The postal service says affected workers still employed by the corporation will have their outstanding wages added to their next pay cheque.

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Australia news live: ‘maintain the love’, Noel Pearson says, rebutting John Howard’s no campaign message

Prominent yes campaigner and Cape York leader ‘surprised’ by former PM’s message to ‘maintain the rage’. Follow the latest updates live

Jane Hume to vote no despite anticipated home state yes

Liberal senator Jane Hume appeared on the Today show earlier this morning, saying she would be voting no in the upcoming referendum on an Indigenous voice to parliament, however she conceded her home state of Victoria will likely vote yes.

My home state is probably where there’ll be a Yes. But the yes vote is very well resourced from corporates and individuals and that’ll be ramping up. I don’t think the No campaign can take anything for granted in these last few weeks.

That describes both the yes and the no case. They can make up their own mind.

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No love for letters: Australia Post’s future under review as traditional mail declines

Questions marks sit over daily letter deliveries as government releases discussion paper on postal service

Australia Post is famous for its “we deliver” slogan – but when it comes to letters, it may soon need to add the caveat “but not every day”.

The government released a discussion paper on the future of Australia Post on Wednesday, with question marks once again sitting over daily letter deliveries.

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Australia Post temporarily halts sea mail amid rise in prohibited items

While sea mail takes a long time to deliver, people opt for this service because it is cheaper

Australia Post has put a temporary halt on all mail entering the country by sea as a growing number of prohibited items make their way to our shores.

According to its website, Australia Post temporarily suspended all incoming sea mail from 1 October. An Australia Post spokesperson confirmed this was due to an “increasing number of prohibited mail items coming into Australia by sea”.

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One in six Australian public servants sexually harassed in workplace, survey finds

Exclusive: Survey of Australian public sector found two-thirds of incidents went unreported due to fears they would not be impartially investigated

Almost one in six public servants have experienced sexual harassment but only one-third of incidents were reported, according to a new union survey.

The results of a survey of 3,280 workers by the Community and Public Sector Union, released on Friday, will add pressure to the Morrison government to do more to combat workplace harassment.

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Daniel Andrews gives Covid update as Victoria records zero coronavirus cases and Melbourne lockdown lifted – live

Premier expected to announce more details of city’s reopening after record-breaking Covid-19 lockdown, as federal parliament and Senate estimates return and questions continue over management of Australia Post. Follow latest updates

The rules for household visits will go through share houses, teenagers and who can visit who after a visit.

But they are complicated, so I will wait to go through them and then bring them to you once they are clear.

Back at Treasury estimates, the Labor senator Katy Gallagher is attempting to get either officials or the finance minister, Mathias Cormann, to acknowledge that workers earning less than $80,000 will get less tax relief in 2024-25 than they will get this year because of the one-off extension of the $1,080 offset in the October budget.

Treasury officials say the extension of the offset is a “classic stimulus measure” so it shouldn’t form part of an assessment of the tax scales in future years. They say this year’s budget includes extending the offset (the stimulus measure) and a tax cut through the bringing forward of the stage two tax cuts (a structural change).

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Australia Post reveals luxury Cartier watches for senior managers actually cost $20K

A federal government investigation into the scandal may cost more than the lavish gifts purchased in November 2018

Four Cartier watches given to Australia Post senior managers were worth nearly $20,000 in total, $8,000 more than the organisation’s chief executive told a parliamentary hearing this week.

Christine Holgate told Senate estimates on Thursday the watches, purchased in 2018 as a reward for the executives, were worth about $3,000 each.

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The Queen’s head next to a meat pie? Aussie icons join monarch on Australian coins

‘Great Aussie Coin Hunt’ a boon for brands, with Vegemite, Iced VoVos and Zooper Doopers scoring their own $1 coins

Australia’s postal service has released a series of commemorative $1 coins featuring images of the long-running television soap Neighbours, the word “g’day” and a mythical ape-like creature called a yowie.

Related: Australian $50 note typo: spelling mistake printed 46 million times

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